50 years since Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, many of the same problems are still plaguing African-American communities, despite meaningful change that has been made.

22% of black people are still in poverty — only down from 32% since 1968.

Rays - Hope - Fact - Americans - College

But there are some meaningful rays of hope, like the fact that many more African Americans are attending college now than in the 1960s.

Martin Luther King though was ahead of his time in 1968 when he called for an end to unemployment, which is a controversial idea to this day. Many see cycles of poverty and unemployment as central to the African-American struggle in the US.

Apr - Dr - Martin - Luther - King

That was almost 50 years ago. Back then, the wholesale racial integration required by the 1964 Civil Rights Act was just beginning to chip away at discrimination in education, jobs and public facilities. Black voters had only obtained legal protections two years earlier, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act was about to become law.

African-Americans - Neighborhoods - Colleges - Careers - Whites

African-Americans were only beginning to move into neighborhoods, colleges and careers once reserved for whites only.

I'm too young to remember those days. But hearing my parents talk about the late 1960s, it sounds in some ways like another world. Numerous African-Americans now hold positions of power, from mayor to governor to corporate chief executive — and, yes, once upon a time, president. The US is a very different place than it was 50 years ago.

Scholar - Minority - Politics - Things - Americans

Or is it? As a scholar of minority politics, I know that while some things have improved markedly for black Americans since 1968, today we are still fighting many of the same battles as Dr. King did in his day.

The 1960s were tumultuous years indeed. During the long, hot summers from 1965...